


Bribery

by SomewhereFictional



Series: He Calls It Research [2]
Category: Actor RPF, Benedict Cumberbatch- Fandom, British Actor RPF
Genre: AU, Benedict Cumberbatch - Freeform, Eventual relationship, Friendship, Gen, Pre-Episode: s01e01 A Study in Pink, Pre-Season/Series 01, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-07
Updated: 2021-02-07
Packaged: 2021-03-17 01:41:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 792
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29217375
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SomewhereFictional/pseuds/SomewhereFictional
Summary: Ellen has to give feedback on the first week of the ride-along.
Series: He Calls It Research [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2135925
Kudos: 2





	Bribery

Ellen sits down a with sigh, grateful for the simple act of taking the weight off her feet. It helps, too, knowing that she only has ten minutes left before the end of her shift, and that she has a big bar of chocolate waiting for her at home and the choice between a couple of takeaways for dinner.

But first, she has to write up this report on Cumberbatch's first week.

The easiest option would be to send off the email saying that he doesn't get on with the team, or herself, and asks a LOT of questions, which inevitably gets tedious and more than a little distracting. It wouldn't take long to write, after all, since she'd already drafted an email with words to that effect the same morning he arrived.

Before she can talk herself out of it, Ellen hits the backspace key and deletes what she'd written on Tuesday. She knows she can't send it away; it's too much like a complaint than a genuine performance report, and if anyone were to read it, it wouldn't be Cumberbatch getting called into a meeting.

Stifling a yawn, Ellen types out the words 'Week One Report', and sits back in her chair.

It's a start, at least. But what comes after? Because he is annoying. He's worse than a journalist at a press conference with the constant stream of questions he asks. And the theories he comes up with don't bear thinking about.

Does that mean he needs to be gotten rid of as soon as possible? 

Ellen yawns again and starts typing, trying very hard not to think too much on the fact that she's practically supporting this harebrained ride-along by writing this report instead of going to someone at HQ and explaining in minute detail why this is a bad idea.

A few hundred words in, she hears the squeak of shoes on the linoleum out in the hall, and a second later, there's a hesitant knock on the door before it's pushed open.

Cumberbatch lingers in the doorway, his hands behind his back. "Is this a bad time?"

As much as Ellen just wants to file this report and go home, she'd like the distraction, too. "Nothing that can't wait."

With the invitation, Cumberbatch comes into the room properly, hands still hidden as if he's a soldier at attention. Ellen tries to keep from rolling her eyes. Surely she isn't that intimidating?

She only implied bodily harm once, and that was within a couple of minutes of meeting him. She hasn't brought it up since, because he'd been behaving himself and staying out of her way.

So why does he look so nervous?

"I just wanted to say thank you," he says, before Ellen can start forming theories on his odd behaviour. "For this week, I mean. I got the feeling on Tuesday that you hadn't a say in my being here, so I know it can't have been easy."

Well that wasn't what she'd expected.

Ellen watches his face flush when he finishes speaking, waiting for her reaction. She can't bring herself to tell him it hasn't been easy, and she'd much rather go back to the way things were before he got here and she could just do her job without having to explain every single thing she was doing.

"Thank you," she says, and Cumberbatch nods, relieved.

"I, erm, brought you this." After a moment, he produces a plastic carrier bag from behind his back, providing the solution to the mystery of why he'd been keeping his hands there, and brings it over to Ellen's desk. "I saw you missed lunch earlier because of all your meetings."

This close, Ellen can smell the food inside. Her stomach rumbles, almost as if on cue, and when she looks up to question why he bought her dinner, she notices the mischievous look in his eye.

"This is bribery, isn't it?" 

"I have no idea what you're talking about." The innocence sounds overdone, and it doesn't take long for the man to cave under Ellen's look. "Okay, okay. DCI Taylor mentioned some kind of review thingy on how this ride-along is going and I thought I might try and stack the odds in my favour."

"By bribing me with food?"

Cumberbatch doesn't look remotely embarrassed by his ploy. "Is it working?"

Ellen tears into the bag, uncovering cartons of pasta and chips and even desserts. It smells divine in comparison to the canteen food she'd decided to bypass earlier, and looks much better, too.

"It might be," she says, as she makes a start on it. She's too hungry to pretend she's mad. "But just for the record, bribery is completely underhand and I don't condone it."


End file.
